


apples

by sodelicate



Category: Free!
Genre: 5 Times, Embedded Images, F/F, Family Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Light Angst, Sibling Bonding, but are we surprised, overprotective rin stars in this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-28
Updated: 2020-01-28
Packaged: 2021-02-27 14:00:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,635
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22448329
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sodelicate/pseuds/sodelicate
Summary: If it really was his father’s will that he takes care of Gou in his stead, he knows that's what he ought to do. Even if now he thinks the whole apple metaphor for his family is kinda cringey, he's going to be a good big brother and take care of Gou because duh, that's what big brothers are supposed to do.He just wonders if he's been doing a good enough job of that, of being the ‘big apple’ his father told him he was.Or: Five times Rin proves that deep down, he is a good big brother; he's just kind ofreallyawkward about showing it.
Relationships: Matsuoka Gou & Matsuoka Rin, Matsuoka Gou/Mikoshiba Isuzu, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 30





	apples

**Author's Note:**

  * For [kourota](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kourota/gifts).



> this is a (very) belated birthday gift to my bro who is the bro-est of bros, a bro from another mother. hope you enjoy this! <3
> 
> flowers are mentioned in this fic and while their meanings don't really change much about the story, it does reflect the character's perhaps-subconscious thoughts when buying those flowers. there are links embedded that lead to websites explaining the respective flowers' meanings for anyone who's curious. the meanings are also included in the endnotes! :D
> 
> (there's another embedded link, click it for a fun memey surprise :p)
> 
> ###### last but not least, some headcanons in this fic that are just fyi! :D
> 
> 1\. Rin's Australian home-stay parents are Catholic, so he learned a thing or two about Christianity during his stay, which is why there are several biblical references in his narration. 
> 
> 2\. Rin is a closet shoujo fan, hence the are also several shoujo references in his narration.

**#0:**

Rin can count the number of solid memories he has of his father on one hand. There was that time his father took him and Gou on a ride on his boat around the seas of Tottori to go fishing. There was also that time they tried baking a strawberry shortcake for their mother but only succeeded in making a mess of the kitchen. Thankfully, she had the patience of a saint, so she found their efforts adorable and even helped out with the cleaning up.

The clearest one, though, is of his father explaining why he and Gou named the way they are.

“It all began with your hair.”

“Our _hair?_ ” Rin parroted like it was the most profound thing he had ever heard.

“Yes,” his father said with an approving nod. “Rin, can you tell me what's the colour of your and your sister’s hair?”

“Red!”

“That's right. And what fruit is red in colour?”

Gou’s hand shot into the air like she's in class. “Apples!”

His father reached out to ruffle Gou’s hair. “Right again. And why apples, you might be wondering. It’s because when you put both your names together—Rin and Gou—you get _ringo,_ which is apple. The kanji in your names aren't the same ones, but the phonetics—which is basically the sound words make—are very similar. That makes you two are our little apples.”

“Ohhhh,” the two children chorused together. Whoa, their father really was a genius!

“And you know what else?” he added conspiratorially.

“What, what?”

“This home—it’s the tree that will help you two grow big and strong,” he explained, placing a warm hand on each of their heads. “Rin, as the bigger apple, it’s your job to take care of Gou, the little apple, when your mother and I aren't around.”

Rin glanced at Gou, who's fiddling with her doll’s hair, and he puffed his chest out. She was still weak and small and kind of dumb, so it’s his duty as her older brother to protect her from bullies on the playground, stupid boys who tried to make her cry, and other monsters kids their age encountered.

“The same goes for Gou, of course,” his father continued. “The both of you have to take care of each other, okay? There are a lot of bad things and bad people in the world—like worms and pests that like to attack apples—but as long as you have each other, everything will be fine. Of course, your mother and I will also take care of you, because we’re your parents.”

Gou gazed up at him in curious wonderment. “So… you and mommy are like the biggest apples?”

He chuckled. “Correct again. Because we’re your parents, it’s our job to take care of you until you don't need us anymore. Well, even when you can take care of yourselves, your mother and I will still be there for you if you need anything—but that’s another conversation for when you two have grown up.”

At that time, Rin couldn't fathom a world where he wouldn't need his parents anymore. The world out there seemed so big and scary—he didn't know how adults handled it on their own. As a matter of fact, he couldn't fathom a world where his parents weren't even there.

And now that he's older with lots of hindsight to reflect on, he has to wonder if his father knew. If he knew about the terrible storm that would sink his boat and plunge him to his death. If he knew he wouldn't get the chance to say goodbye to his “favourite apples” as he liked to call them. If he knew Rin would have to take his role as the so-called ‘man of the house’ (as gendered and dated as it sounds) at a terribly young age. There are so many things Rin wishes he could ask his father, but he knows he won't get to until it’s time for _him_ to go.

If it really was his father’s will that he takes care of Gou in his stead, he knows that's what he ought to do. Even if now he thinks the whole apple metaphor for his family is kinda cringey, he's going to be a good big brother and take care of Gou because duh, that's what big brothers are supposed to do.

He just wonders if he's been doing a good enough job of that, of being the ‘big apple’ his father told him he was.

* * *

**#1:**

Training in Australia has turned out to not be everything Rin had hyped it up to be. He remembers how his stupid younger self went around bragging to everyone he could find about how he was going to train in Australia and return as a champion. He really thought, like the overly-idealistic dumbass he once was, that he was going to be a big man on campus or some bullshit like that.

Instead, he's just humiliated. The other guys are stronger, faster, and just _better_ in every imaginable way than he is. And so, he's assigned to the group of swimmers who, as his coach put it, need “more focused training”.

 _Just call us what we_ really _are—weaklings and losers,_ he had grumbled to himself when he'd first been placed in that group.

Dragged down to the dirt, he's too humiliated to respond to the letters from Japan. The ones from Sousuke, Makoto and Nagisa (turns out Haru isn't one for writing letters, who would've guessed?)—he ignores all of them. They're all expecting to hear of his great achievements in Australia, but he can't cook up a lie to appease them or even himself. Pathetic.

It gets worse after he returns to Japan for winter break and is _soundly_ defeated by Haru. Even after all his struggling and flailing about in Australia in the weakest group, he still can't measure up to that jerk—that jerk who's somehow incredible at swimming without even trying. That jerk who probably doesn't know the meaning of hard work if it was decked out in neon and walked right into him. Who was Rin kidding? Even after all his hard work, all his blood, sweat and tears, none of that can measure up to natural talent. He was stupid for thinking otherwise. 

Eventually, the number and frequency of letters from his friends have dwindled down to almost nothing—not that he's surprised. Why would you continue to write to someone who might as well be a wall for how often they reply? The only person whose letter he still responds to is his mother, and that's only because she gently guilts him into it. 

In a recent one, she asks if he planned on returning to Japan for Gou’s middle school graduation ceremony. Honestly speaking, he has half a mind not to go back—he just doesn't feel like it. He hasn't been feeling like doing much of _anything_ lately, after quitting the swim team nearly two years ago.

But in a letter from Gou, she has enclosed a bundle of photographs of herself: with their mother, with Steve the stupid fat cat, with her classmates—and there's one with a _boy_ classmate that gets his blood boiling. They're standing _awfully_ close and doing fucking peace signs together. He even has an arm around her shoulders, which sends Rin reeling. Isn't this Japan? Since when did such casual touching become okay, especially between a boy and a girl? He's offended on so many levels. How dare this stupid boy touch Gou with his filthy mitts? Hell, who even does _peace signs_ anymore?!

He makes up his mind. Fuck his recent bout of depression and self-imposed isolation—he’s going to see who the hell this boy is and greet him with a stern fist to the face if need be.

Rin arrives in Japan on the day of the graduation ceremony, making it just in time with a bouquet of flowers he bought from the airport. His mother is seated in the third row—he can tell from her red hair like a beacon among a sea of mostly black or dark brown hair (with the occasional blond somewhere in the mix), as well as her hand waving to him. He takes the seat beside her, and she pats his hand.

“I'm glad you could make it, Rin,” she says warmly. “I'm sure Gou must be delighted too.”

Heat crawls up behind Rin’s ears. “Yeah, whatever…”

A good son would probably be more polite to his mother—especially since he hasn't seen her since New Year’s—but forgive him for being a little… _distracted_ trying to find the sorry son of a bitch who dared to put his arm around Gou and shoot peace signs.

The first person he spots in the graduating cohort is Gou, who stands out naturally with her red ponytail and white ribbon—the one he gave to her for her tenth birthday. Huh, she still keeps that old thing? He figured she would have gotten bored of it now, considering her now vast collection of hair ribbons.

They make eye contact across the hall, and her face instantly lights up. She gives him a jaunty wave, which he responds to with a curt nod before glancing away. He needs to find that boy—where _is_ he?

An arm slips around the back of Gou’s chair. Indignation shoots through Rin. Who _dares,_ and in _Japan_ no less! He's gotten used to this kind of thing in Australia, but hardly anyone would do that here, especially during an important ceremony with at least a hundred people around, and _especially_ between a boy and a girl.

With a glare that could probably fry a lesser being into a crisp, he follows the length of the arm up to a very punchable-looking face—a very punchable face that, either by luck or divine intervention, he recognises. The _vermin_ is wearing a casual smirk that he would very much like to drive into the dirt. Gou continues sitting there, seemingly clueless to the boy’s rather forward advances.

Rin wants nothing more than to storm over there and rain absolute hell on that boy, but the Japanese in him knows he can't make a scene in the middle of a ceremony. He forces himself to remain seated, gritting his teeth and nearly crushing the [white roses](http://www.passiongrowers.com/web/ot/colors.asp) and [heathers](https://www.gardenguides.com/13426219-what-is-the-meaning-of-the-heather-flower.html) in his clenched fist.

Thankfully, the ceremony is over sooner than he expected (though that might have been because he dozed off midway through yet another droning speech). The hall is soon filled with the excited chatter and occasional sobs of the graduating students as they mill around. Gou is with her friends (two girls; Rin breathes a sigh of relief), taking a group photo together. In the distance, Rin spots the boy leaning against the wall, hands in his pockets and eyes on Gou. If he's waiting for an opportunity to try and do _something_ to her, he's not going to have it.

Rin cuts through the crowd—it parts around him like how the Red Sea did for Moses, except he's not fueled by the blessing or whatever of God but rather by sheer rage.

“Onii-chan!” Gou exclaims, waving to him. “I'm so glad you could make it. I thought—”

“Congrats on graduating.” Without stopping his one-track march, he shoves the bouquet into her hands before storming up to the boy. To his immense satisfaction, the stupid piece of vermin has to look up to meet Rin’s incandescent glower with a perplexed look.

“Uh, can I help you with anything, sir?” he asks. Fucking goody-two-shoes.

Rin bares his teeth and slams a fist against the wall, right beside the boy’s head. “Where the _fuck_ do you get off casually touching people like that? _And_ without any care that you're in public?! I don't know who or where you think you are, but show some damn respect for social norms, or at least personal fucking space if that's the absolute least you can manage. Keep your hands to yourself, or one day you might find you're suddenly without them.”

The boy pales considerably under Rin’s glare, while distantly in the background Gou wails, “Aude-kun! I _told_ you not to do that—I _told_ you my brother would make a scene!”

Aude-kun? Rin glances down at the boy and, huh, he _does_ look a little foreign. Maybe he's half-something; half-French, by the sounds of it. Rin bristles. Half-foreign or not, it’s still no excuse to break one of the most fundamental social norms here, especially if he's been studying here for quite some time now.

“Have I made myself clear, _Aude-kun?_ ” Rin growls, leaning down until he's practically nose-to-nose with Aude.

Aude whimpers a meek “Yes, very” before making a quick getaway under Rin’s arm.

“Onii-chan,” Gou whines as she tugs insistently on his sleeve. “That was embarrassing! You shouldn't have made a scene or threatened him. What if you got into trouble?”

Rin rounds on her. “And what about you? What was all that about me ‘making a fuss’? Shouldn't _you_ be caring more about your own personal space rather than how I'd react?”

She pouts at him. “I mean, it was weird when Aude-kun first transferred here. He was super touchy—apparently he forgot that here we don't greet each other by hugging or kissing—but we’ve all gotten used to it now.”

“ _Used_ to it?!” Rin feels like he's on the verge of a stroke.

“Yeah, happens when you've been classmates for two years. And he knows his boundaries! He's spent a year here—he knows what the norms are now. He just gets friendly every now and then. But he knows his boundaries, I swear!”

Rin isn't inclined to believe that, and neither is he interested in continuing this argument. He knows he's right and he did a good job of scaring the little brat away, so he counts this as a win in his book.

* * *

**#2:**

Rin has gotten somewhat better at keeping in touch with people after properly reuniting with Haru and the others, and that includes his sister. As much as possible, he tries to reply to her texts in a timely fashion, and he even visits home on weekends when he can make it. All in all, things seem to be more or less back to normal for them—she keeps him updated on Steven’s weight and how Mom is doing, along with the occasional GIF. He does his best to humour her. Her GIFs are a little too cutesy for his tastes, but he decides to keep that complaint to himself. It could be worse, it really could. 

The point is, their main mode of communication is via text—so when she suddenly _calls_ him right after swim practice, he finds himself torn between confusion and worry. 

“Gou?” he asks, settling on bewilderment as a nice middle ground. What on earth could be so urgent that would warrant a call at six in the evening on a Wednesday? “Is everything okay?”

“Gou-san? Is that Gou-san on the line?!” Momo chimes in with too much enthusiasm for Rin’s liking, making grabby hands at Rin’s phone. “Gou-san! It’s me, Mikoshiba! Hey hey, get this! I recently learned how to do a handstand! My current record is one minute and thirty-two seconds! Also, I like shoyou with ramen! The newest band I like is—”

Rin lifts the phone high above Momo’s hand. Feeling literal hellfire burning in his veins, he barks, “Ai!”

Ai, bless his sweet soul, snaps to attention and salutes like a terrified soldier. Frantically, he drags Momo out of the locker room, leaving a trail of dust and shouts of “Gou-san, _Gou-saaaaan!_ ” in their wake. 

Satisfied that he won't be cleaning blood off his hands today, Rin lowers his phone back to his ear. “Sorry about that. You were saying something?”

“Oh, yeah. I was just wondering if you were free this weekend to go clothes shopping with me.”

_What?_

Rin can feel his eyebrow twitching. “… Let me see if I heard this right: you're asking me to go clothes shopping. With you. This weekend.”

“Yep!” Gou replies far too cheerily. “Can you make it?”

He vehemently ignores his teammates’ snickers and Sousuke’s knowing smirk (he never knew it was possible to ignore people with near-palpable vehemence until now). “If it’s just about _shopping,_ couldn't you have just—I don't know, _texted_ me like a normal person?”

“I was too lazy to type. Plus, sometimes you don't text back, so I figured there's no way you can leave me on read if I called you.”

… Smart girl. Rin may forget to reply to texts—mostly because he tends to reply to people in his head and forgets to actually type out his response—but he’ll never ignore a phone call. Normally because phone calls signal something urgent. Which this is not, and Rin _is_ going to split hairs with her over this until one of them caves.

(Like the fool he is, he really believes _Gou_ is going to be the one who caves in. He truly does.)

“Uh…” he hedges, wracking his brain for other alternatives (read: excuses). “What about your girl friends? Can't you go with them instead? Since this seems more like a girly kinda thing.”

“They're all busy,” Gou says. The pout is evident in her voice, and he's almost— _almost_ —swayed, but he prevails.

“Does it have to be _this_ weekend?”

“Yes, ‘cause my favourite store is having a special sale only for this weekend. Also, you need more clothes.”

“Says who?!” he squawks indignantly.

“Says me! And Mom!” she retorts with an equal amount of flare. “Your T-shirts and pants are getting too small for you now—not that that’s a bad thing, ‘cause that means your muscles are still growing, but still! We tossed out the old clothes you left at home. There was no way you were gonna fit in those without looking you had mugged a fourteen-year-old and stolen his clothes.”

“Don't just throw away my clothes without my consent!”

She ignores that particular complaint. “And you have a surprisingly good eye when it comes to fashion, for a boy, so I'd like to have you with me.”

“Oi, what's that supposed to mean?” Rin grumbles, offended on so many different levels. He takes pride in his appearance—is that a bad thing?!

Then Gou, the sly girl, abruptly switches tactics. She takers on a pitiful tone, much like how he would imagine an abandoned puppy on the street would sound like if it could talk. “I guess if you really can't make it or don't want to, I won't force you. I wouldn't want to make Onii-chan do something if it’s just gonna make him unhappy. And I’ll just have to be extra careful on the train so I don't get groped by some creepy old man—”

“What time should I pick you up from home?”

“Eh?”

“I'm going with you, okay?” Rin groans, embarrassed to admit how easily he was suckered into doing her bidding. “So what time’s good for you?”

Her tone brightens instantly. “Is ten okay?”

That's not too bad, he supposes. He can wake up at eight, take his time to get ready, and still make it on time to pick her up. That's later than his usual wake-up time, anyway.

“Yeah, that's fine,” he says. “See you. Tell Haru and the others to keep working hard at practice, alright, or they'll get bitten.”

Rin hangs up and places his phone back in the locker. He takes a few moments to gather the remaining scraps of his dignity before turning around to glare at his still-snickering teammates. “ _What?_ ” he growls, and they instantly stiffen like someone just shot the fear of god into them.

“You don't have to be so uptight, boss,” Takeru, a fellow senior, teases him. “It’s hard to say no to little sisters. I get it—I have a younger sister too. She's a lot younger than yours, though. She's six and the most spoiled but adorable little thing ever. If she was older, it’d be easier to give her a noogie and tell her to shove off, but alas she has the cutest baby face that I just can't say no to.”

Rin refuses to dignify that with a response. Instead, he spots Uozumi with an odd look on his face. “And what's up with you, Uozumi?”

“Oh, Captain!” he says, immediately snapping to attention. “Momo was just saying—”

Momo? When did that brat—

Rin spots a tuft of orange hair hiding behind Iwashimizu. Who let him back in again?!”

“—it’d be cool if our school was co-ed, so your sister could be our manager.”

“Yeah,” Minami chimes in, crossing his arms behind his head. “It sucks that we’re an all-boys school, ‘cause we’re missing out on the quintessential sports club experience of having a cute lady manager.”

Rin’s fist strikes the locker before his mind can catch up to what his body is doing. “ABSOLUTELY NOT. We don't _need_ a manager—we can manage just fine on our own. And even if we _did_ need one, Gou would _never_ be our manager.”

Sousuke, who's clearly just trying to rile Rin up, smirks. “Who said it had to be Gou—or a girl, for that matter? Anyone competent would do. It’s kinda gendered to automatically assume any sports club manager _has_ to be a girl, don't you think?”

Rin glares at Sousuke, because he knows Sousuke knows that he knows what the other guys on their team _really_ want. _Do NOT egg them on, you asshole._

Sousuke just lifts a hand in mock surrender, but that jerk clearly feels no remorse.

“Jeez, Captain, you're so overprotective,” Minami says. Rin thinks he's gonna stop there, but he continues and Rin realises he had never pegged him to be particularly suicidal up till now. “Like, _big-time_ overprotective. You're worse than a jealous boyfriend.”

_Good, and it should be that way._

Because jealous boyfriends would hurt Gou, and that's who he aims to protect Gou from by delivering a swift fist to any offending faces. Boyfriends come and go, but family will always remain to examine each and every potential suitor with an electric chair and handcuffs (of the non-kinky variety). 

(The actual shopping trip the following Saturday goes by without much incident, other than having to forcefully object to certain selections of especially short skirts. Gou is a young girl, barely sixteen—who allows literal _children_ to buy such… _adult_ -looking clothes?! Fuck the fashion industry and fuck their exploitation of innocent young girls.

He buys some functional and somewhat stylish-looking tops and jeans, and helps Gou carry her shopping bags when she realises she may have bought more clothes than she can handle on her own. 

All in all, it’s a productive trip, and he grudgingly concedes to himself that he wouldn't mind doing this again. But only if she asks.)

* * *

**#3:**

Rin readjusts back to life in Sydney like a duck returning to its pond (among several) after a period away. The main difference now—besides the fact that he's swimming on an elite college team—is that he's living on his own. He makes all of his meals, cleans his apartment, and does his own laundry. This must be what adulting feels like. He realises how pampered he was when he lived with his mother back in Japan, or with Russell and Lori during his previous stay here, or even at the dorms in Samezuka; he never had to worry about what he was going to eat for his next meal or going to the laundromat so he had clothes to wear the next day, on top of his training and studies. 

It also gets lonely sometimes, not having anyone to say good morning to either in the bunk above him or in the dining room just down the hallway. Sure, it’s not like he's _completely_ isolated—his neighbours are friendly enough in that characteristic Australian way (and that was something else he had to re-adapt to, after spending several years in the more reserved Japan)—but after a long day of classes and training, he doesn't have much energy to sustain a proper conversation with anyone.

He keeps in touch with his old friends. Nagisa likes to flood their shared group chats as well as his DMs with random memes and GIFs, most of which he leaves on read because it’s a nuisance to sort through every single one of them (though not enough for him to actually block Nagisa, for better or for worse). Sousuke keeps him updated about his rehabilitation. Rin doesn't consider himself to be particularly religious, but for the sake of Sousuke’s shoulder and dreams he makes an exception. He also gets updates on how Haru and Makoto are doing in Tokyo, mostly via Makoto because Haru has a bad habit of only replying to texts once every blue moon (a vast improvement from when his phone was merely a decorative household piece, though, Rin has to give him that).

As for his family, they have their weekly Skype sessions every Saturday evening to catch up. It’s nice to hear about his mother’s new baking projects, amusing to see how much fatter Steve has gotten, and baffling when Gou enthusiastically goes on and on about the latest issue of the muscle magazine she follows. It’s even weirder now because his _coach_ follows the exact same magazine too, but he would never tell her or she’d never shut up.

So you see, Rin has a nice little routine to follow to make sure he can keep up with both his worlds in Australia and Japan. He likes routines; they make life a little easier to manage and a little less daunting to wake up to every morning. It’s neat and predictable.

And so, when on a random Wednesday evening he gets a text from Gou asking if he's free to Skype tonight, he's a little startled and more than a little worried. If he was still in Japan, he'd think this was just her way of cornering him to get him to do a favour for her. But since he's a continent away, it _has_ to be something urgent. Hence, he responds in the affirmative and immediately boots up his laptop.

“Hey, Onii-chan,” Gou says, her face filling the screen. “Sorry, I know you must be really busy now, and I didn't want to call you while you're busy but I just—”

“It’s fine,” Rin replies, waving his hand. “If I really wasn't available, I would've just told you. What's up?”

At first glance, Gou looks like how she usually does. Not a hair out of place, no paleness or bags under her eyes to indicate she hasn't been taking care of herself.

But there's an odd tension in the way she holds herself—it’s almost like she doesn't _want_ him to hear what she has to say, even though this call was _her_ idea in the first place.

Gou nibbles on her lower lip. “It’s just—I don't know, I guess many things are going on. Being a third-year… it’s a lot more overwhelming than I’d realised. Now I can see why Makoto-senpai and Haruka-senpai had that really bad fight last year. Even among Nagisa-kun, Rei-kun and myself—we’ve ended up saying stuff we didn't actually mean. We really wanted to go to nationals this year, not just for the relay but for everyone’s individual events too, but balancing that with our schoolwork…” She blows out a sigh. “It was hard. It’s a little easier to manage things now that we've retired from club activities, but I'm still worried about how the juniors are managing the club. Like, they're still first-years, so we have to unofficially, off-the-record, check in with them from time to time to make sure things are okay.”

“I’d imagine.” Rin remembers his own third year—how tough it was to juggle schoolwork, swimming, captain duties and interpersonal drama all at once. He doesn't regret anything, because all’s well that ends well, but he wouldn't _ever_ want to go back to that year. “Well, it’s really hard and stressful, but this is just one of those things that you have to—”

“Wait,” Gou interrupts, sounding unusually timid. “There's more, so if you could, uh, you know…”

He blinks, but then it hits him: active listening. His mother was telling him the other day that he wasn't very good at it, since he had the tendency to immediately try and hand out solutions instead of simply listening. He still doesn't completely get why someone _wouldn't_ want to solve their problems ASAP so they can continue about their lives, but he supposes he doesn't have to get it to practise it.

“Sorry, my bad,” he says. “Yeah, I'm listening. Go on.”

Gou visibly relaxes in her seat, which causes a small of guilt to nag at him. He really needs to work on his active listening. 

“Thanks. Anyway, um, school stuff has been stressful,” she continues, hedging like she's carefully selecting her words, “but there's something else. Uh, Onii-chan, promise me something, please?”

“Yeah, sure. What is it?”

“Please… please don't freak out, okay?”

Rin can already feel a freak-out building inside him, because people only tell you not to freak out when they know what they're gonna say next _will_ cause a freak-out. He's transported back to those times in high school when he had mistaken her for dating someone, except this time it’s real; he's hearing it straight from her mouth instead of having to play detective on his own. He digs his nails into his palms in hopes that the slight pain would ground him. 

“Promise,” he says, forcing the word out through gritted teeth. “What? Did something happen?”

It’s a boyfriend. He _knows_ it’s a boyfriend. Some son of a bitch has laid his filthy eyes and mitts on her. He's probably been touching her and saying _things_ to her and—

Oh god. Oh no. What if he had _knocked her up?_ That would definitely cause Rin to freak out. In fact, freak-out might be an _understatement._ He might just combust in sheer anger, causing an almighty explosion in his apartment and the force would send him flying all the way back to Japan to kill that—

“So there's this girl I really like.”

“THE FUCKING ASSHOLE I WILL _MURDER_ —wait.”

Rin barely manages to stop himself from flipping the table. _Just_ barely—he was already on his feet and his hands had a tight grip on the edge until the gender of the aforementioned “fucking asshole” finally sinks into his tiny coalition of functioning brain cells.

He stares at Gou, who's barely holding back an amused smile at his almost freak-out.

“A girl,” he says.

“A girl,” she confirms.

“Oh.” He sits back down. There are so many things he wants to ask—and so many things he's not sure if it’s okay to ask—so he settles for the most concrete one he can think of. “So when did you, uh, find out? That you like girls. Or did you always know?”

“Honestly, I was surprised too. I thought I liked guys—and I do. I like guys with nice muscles. But then I met this girl—she’s a swimmer, and she has _fantastic_ muscles. She stays in Tokyo but we hang out regularly. And we text a lot too. I started feeling _things_ when I saw her, especially when she posted work-out pics on her Instagram story. Oh, Onii-chan, her _abs!_ ” she adds, her eyes going wide and starry the way they do when there's a pool full of fit shirtless guys for her to ogle. “She has the most wonderful—uh, I mean, I realised I liked her. In a very similar way to how I like guys. I think I like her even more than any guy I've liked before, honestly speaking.”

Well. Of all the things he was expecting her to hit him with after telling him not to freak out (not that it was much use, anyway), coming out was _definitely_ not on the list.

“So, uh, bisexual?” he ventures. “You're bi?”

Gou tilts her head, as if considering it. “Is there a sexuality where you’re _only_ attracted to people with nice muscles?”

Rin snorts. “I think that's just a very specific type.” Then again, if morosexuality is a thing, he doesn't see why ‘muscle-sexuality’ can't be. He's not going to give her any more ideas just yet, though.

“Well, whatever it is, I really like her. And she likes me too. We’re dating now—we’ve been dating for several months, actually. It’s hard, though, ‘cause we’re pretty far from each other and we've got a lot on our plates. Well, I have more. Her school is affiliated with a university in Tokyo—the one Haruka-senpai attends, if I'm not wrong—so she has a direct recommendation to join their swim team. And I just—I don't know. I think I'm afraid.”

“Of what?” he prompts, leaning forward on his elbows.

Gou’s fingers twirl around the ends of her hair as she speaks, as if needing to work off some kind of excess energy. “I just feel like I haven't been making as much of an effort as she is for this thing we have together, ‘cause I'm so busy. And, well, you know what girls are like sometimes.”

Rin, in fact, doesn't, since the only women he really interacts with on a regular basis are Gou and their mother, and their family can hardly be considered a large enough sample size. His high school was all-boys, and he barely remembers anyone from his co-ed middle school either. But he knows this isn't really about him or his experiences, so he just shrugs and makes some affirmative noise, which she takes as a sign to continue.

“You see, sometimes when we’re texting, I get this _vibe_ that she's not happy with me for some reason or another, and then I get worried and upset. But I don't know how to tell her ‘cause I don't wanna hurt her feelings, so my texts just end up sounding snappy and cold. Then _her_ texts start sounding more pissed off, even though she never actually _says_ she's pissed. When I ask her about it, she says everything’s fine. And this keeps going on and on until one of us cracks. But later when we cool down and talk it out, I realise she wasn't actually angry to begin with and I just misread things. Or vice versa. It’s just bad communication, really.”

You know what? Rin is _really_ glad he can't relate to this. That kind of roundabout passive-aggressive way of fighting would piss him off more than someone coming up to him and punching him in the face. At least the latter was _straightforward_ about their feelings.

“Does this happen on a regular basis?” he asks, concerned. “‘Cause if it does, it sounds kinda unhealthy.”

“It mostly happened in the beginning, like when we were still trying to figure out where our relationship would fit in our lives,” she clarifies. “Our communication is a lot better now—we have a code of emojis to use when we’re tired or in a general foul mood, and if we’re upset about something that concerns the other. So yeah, communication is way easier now, but there are other things I'm worried about.”

Rin almost sighs, wishing she could just get to the point already. But he catches and scolds himself. _Pay attention. This is clearly important to her, so it’s important to you._

Gou’s hair-twirling intensifies in speed, and Rin has to will himself to not get distracted. “She's making a ton of effort to communicate, and I'm grateful for that. But I also feel bad ‘cause I feel like I haven't been making nearly as much of an effort to do the same for her. I want her to be happy, of course, but I don't know if I'm the person to do that. It’s just that—you know how I get mad at you when you leave me on read and you say it’s ‘cause you fell asleep and forgot to reply?”

Rin winces. “Guilty as charged.”

“Yeah, it’s the same here. Like, I'd tell myself to reply after finishing my essay or whatever—but when I'm actually done with it, I'm so tired I just crash on my bed and forget all about it.”

“Well, that happens sometimes,” he points out. “This kind of—wait, can I give my two cents now?”

“Yeah, I'm done,” she says with a wave of her hand. “Go ahead.”

He nods. “Alright. As I was saying, this kind of thing can't be helped. Your body only has so much capacity and energy to manage everything going on in your life—your studies, your hobbies, your relationships, your health—and it’s impossible to put in equal effort for everything at the same time. That's just how life is; there's always some give and take. You're gonna have to prioritise some things over other things.”

She slumps in her seat. “Yeah, I know that. What do you think I should do?”

Oh, _finally._ He has been waiting and was just about ready to burst with the urge to solve the problem right in front of him. He reflects on his past fights with his friends—like the whole disaster that happened between him and his old Iwatobi squad—and his various fights with Sousuke.

“I think what's important is that you have an understanding with her,” he begins slowly. “She needs to know you feel this way so she doesn't assume you don't care, because it’s obviously not true. And you should also find out how she feels. All this time, you've been talking about how you _think_ she feels, but have you actually _asked_ her?”

Gou shakes her head. “No. I was afraid of what she’d say.”

“Well, you'll never know if you never ask. If she really cares about you, she’d be understanding of the position you're in. Besides, it’s not like you'll _forever_ be busy with schoolwork—eventually, your university entrance exams will be over and you'll have more time to spend with her. If she's serious about being with you, she’d wait. In fact, a good partner would be supportive of you. Obviously,” he adds, thinking he ought to be fair to both girls, “that's not an excuse for you to vanish off the face of the earth and, like, _never_ reply to her texts. But there needs to be a middle ground the both of you can reach—where you do your best within your limits to communicate and spend time with her, and she understands that you won't always be available ‘cause you're busy with your studies.”

She is quiet for several moments, probably mulling things over. “You know, Onii-chan, you give surprisingly good relationship advice for a bachelor. Are you sure you just haven't been hiding your dating life from me?”

“There's nothing to hide,” he snorts. “Swimming comes first. I want to focus on that first before committing myself to someone, ‘cause if I do then I’ll be _completely_ devoted. Like, 100 percent. That's not something I wanna throw around so thoughtlessly, especially right now when I'm occupied with swimming.”

“Huh, that's kind of romantic in a strange way. Don't wait too long to date, though.”

Rin rolls his eyes. Like he needs romantic advice from his sister. “Did any of what I said help?”

“Hopefully it will. I’ll keep you updated. Please make more of an effort to text back, okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, sure.”

“And—” She smiles shyly. “—thanks, Onii-chan, for letting me ramble. I had a lot I wanted to get off my chest. You're the best. Even if you suck at texting back.”

For some reason, it’s suddenly a lot harder to look at his computer screen. Instead, he directs his attention to a speck of dust in an arbitrary corner. He's gonna need to do a good round of dusting this weekend. “Yeah, no problem.”

“Okay, I gotta go now,” she says, moving away from the screen. “Mom’s calling me for dinner, so I ought to—”

A sudden thought occurs to Rin, and he can't believe he didn't ask earlier. “Wait, one more thing.”

“Hmm?”

“Who's your girlfriend? What's her name?”

Gou, for some bizarre reason, looks torn—torn between apprehension, coyness, and an evil sort of amusement. Blushing and giggling, she gives Rin her girlfriend’s name. And, being a smart girl who's become good at sensing an impending explosion, she immediately hangs up.

It’s just as well, really, because Rin is too stunned to respond. Lightning has crashed through the ceiling and struck him where he's sitting. He can _feel_ entire worlds colliding and shattering around him. All his hope that he could have pleasant and _normal_ in-laws—the _absolute bare fucking minimum,_ really—promptly falls apart before his eyes.

Why? Gou, for the love of all things good and sane in the universe, _why?_ Why, out of all the nice, reasonably attractive and well-muscled girls in the world, did she have to fall for a fucking _Mikoshiba?_

* * *

**#4:**

Gou insists on introducing Rin and her girlfriend in ‘neutral territory’, on the basis that he would act overbearingly territorial if they were to meet at the Matsuoka family home. He bristles at the idea—mainly because she's right—but she has dug her heels into the ground and refuses to budge. Basically, he has no choice but to agree if he wants to meet the girlfriend at all. 

Honestly, Rin still doesn't know how to deal with the fact that Gou is dating… well, a _girl._ Not that he has a problem with it—there are far worse things in the world than people dating others of the same gender—but it’s still a Thing he has to wrap his brain around.

Well, he supposes, one pro of Gou dating a girl is that she can't get pregnant. Hopefully. Unless she decides she must absolutely have a biological child and gets a sperm donation. But that's him thinking too much (he hopes). 

Still. If Gou was dating a guy, Rin would have no qualms about drop-kicking his sorry ass into the stratosphere if he hurt her. But he has _principles_ against hitting girls, and those principles would clash uncomfortably with the instinct to protect Gou no matter what.

And besides all that, how’s he supposed to talk to her? He barely knows a thing about her other than the fact that she's dating Gou. Gou, the sneaky little thing, has withheld all information about her girlfriend, insisting that he forms his own impression of her. And neither can he tell her “I thought you were gonna be a boy at first”— _that_ wouldn't be a great conversation starter.

He also doesn't know how to feel about the fact that when they meet for the very first time at the mall, Mikoshiba Isuzu is pretty much everything he was expecting her to be. Just like her brothers, she has flaming red hair and bright golden eyes. Just like her brothers, her presence can be heard from blocks away. And just like her brothers, she likes getting _very_ close to Gou… though her case is justified, since they _are_ dating.

“Rin-san!” Isuzu greets, bounding up to him like an excited puppy. An excited puppy with the _Mikoshiba_ name. “It’s so great to finally meet you! Gou-chan has told me a _loooot_ about you!”

“Has she?” Rin asks dryly.

Isuzu bobs her head up and down like a bobblehead doll. “Yeah! She said you look and act like a tough guy on the surface, but on the inside you're a _huge_ softie!”

Rin shoots a glare at his traitorous little sister, wondering if this is how Abel felt when Cain killed him. “Why, of _all_ things, is that the first thing she has to say about me?”

Gou lifts a shoulder in a half shrug. “I mean, is she wrong?”

Just as he is contemplating some choice words in reply, Isuzu inserts herself between them, grabbing Gou’s hand and looping her other arm around his.

“C’mon, what are we standing around for? Let’s go!” she announces. 

At this, Rin realises he doesn't have much of a game plan for today other than ‘Meet Sister’s Girlfriend’ and ‘Don't Commit Homicide’. “Go where?” he asks skeptically.

His question is soon answered when the girls drag him to the nearest Lawson. Specifically, to its magazine section. More specifically, the magazine in question has the words _Muscles Monthly!!_ splashed across the cover in a large bold font. Instantly, he sees why the girls click so well together. So this is the power of muscle obsession. Maybe muscle-sexuality _is_ a legitimate thing. The thought disturbs him deeply, and he has to squash down some rather uncomfortable questions regarding Mikhail’s ulterior motives for offering to coach him personally.

Several minutes pass, and the girls are still gushing over the muscles on display on the cover. Are they going to review the whole magazine before purchasing? Good grief.

Because Rin is starting to get bored, he quietly and efficiently extracts himself from Isuzu’s arm looped around his (she's so taken by the deltoid muscles of a particularly hunky bodybuilder that she doesn't notice) and wanders to the drinks section. He buys three cans of soda and circles back to the magazine section, where the girls are _still_ ogling the muscles. At least they've progressed to the first page in the past few minutes he was busy.

“Oi,” Rin says, lightly knocking a can against Gou’s head. “Are you two gonna buy those or what?”

“Oh, right!” Gou exclaims. “Let’s go, Izu-chan!”

Isuzu takes Gou’s magazine. “I’ll pay for them,” she says. There's something like a _seductive_ undertone in her voice that reminds Rin, strangely, of Tamaki from _Ouran High School Host Club_ (or more precisely, Kashima from _Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun,_ now that he thinks about it). “After all, you paid for last month’s issue.”

That impression is confirmed when Isuzu whisks away with roses and sparkles floating around her, leaving Gou with a blush on her face. Rin bristles slightly. He didn't think Gou would be such a sucker for the stock ‘prince’ type in shoujo manga—but then again, he never thought she would like girls either. 

While Isuzu is paying, Rin and Gou head outside to wait. He hands her a can, which she takes gratefully.

“Everyone’s been spoiling me today,” she murmurs with a small smile on her face.

“It’s just a soda,” Rin mutters, glancing away. It’s not a big deal. Besides, he isn't in Japan often other than for competitions or breaks (like the one he's on now)—it wouldn't hurt him to spoil his friends and family a little bit whenever he does return. He's not actually going to _say_ it though, because it would sound lame and he'd rather die in a fire than look like a sappy dumbass. Instead, he opens his can and, as offhandedly as he can, remarks, “You two are really birds of a feather.”

“Is it because we both like muscle magazines?” 

“Yeah, pretty much.” 

Gou giggles. “You know, she asked about you. She was really curious about you.”

“Huh, when?” Rin asks. “And about what part of me, exactly?”

“When we started officially dating, she had loads of questions, ‘cause she had every intention of meeting our family one day. But even when we first met, the first thing she asked me was, _‘Is it true that your brother’s chest is so ripped he has cleavage?’_ ”

Soda sprays out of Rin’s mouth like a hose. “ _What?!_ he squawks, nothing short of horrified and disturbed. Why, of all things, was _that_ Isuzu’s first real impression of him?!

Gou holds her hands up in an attempt to placate him. “Apparently Momotarou-kun told her that! I don't know why he would know anything about that, though! I don't know anything about this!”

Rin sighs. Isuzu’s first impression of him is that he's a dumbass crybaby with cleavage, while all he knows about her is that she likes the same muscle magazines that Gou does. And that she's a Mikoshiba—he can't forget that. He's doing a great job at grilling his possible future in-law.

Oh god. _In-laws._ [Caught up in his apprehension about meeting Isuzu, he forgot that this means he's kind of related to Momo and the former captain. ](https://ibb.co/9VX7kc5) Well, not _technically_ since same-sex marriage isn't legal here, but he still would have to see them around if Isuzu is really going to be a long-term thing in Gou’s and therefore his life. 

Come to think of it, how do _they_ feel about Isuzu dating Gou? It has to be weird, knowing you lost to your _sister_ of all people in the dating department. Rin is glad he can't relate.

“Rin-san, Gou-chan, I'm back!” Isuzu announces, emerging from the store. She hands Gou her magazine, and Gou’s already lit-up face starts glowing even more.

“Thanks, Izu-chan, you're the best!”

Isuzu throws her head back and laughs in a disturbing imitation of her elder brother. “Of course I am! Oh, and Rin-san?”

Rin blinks. “Yeah?”

Isuzu holds out this laminated… thing to him. “I found this in my issue! But since Gou-chan and I already have one, this is yours.”

“Uh, thanks?” Warily, he turns the thing over. What faces him on the other side is a close-up of someone’s pectoral muscles, nestled between the collar of what is probably a summer yukata. “Why—” 

“It reminded me of your cleavage, so I thought you should have it!” Isuzu explains, looking extremely pleased with herself.

Rin does not mirror her emotions. Just barely managing to hold back several choice words that would get his mouth scrubbed by his mother, he grits out, “Yeah, and _why_ —no, in the first place, how do you even know what my… ‘cleavage’ looks like?”

Gou holds her hands up again, this time as if in surrender. “She wanted to see photos of you! She was really excited about meeting you!”

Rin barely suppresses an aggrieved sigh. Still, it would be rude to reject a gift—regardless of how _fucking weird_ it is—so he stuffs it into his jacket pocket and mutters a gruff thanks.

 _This chick’s really not doing much to endear herself to me, if that is her goal,_ he grumbles to himself.

They head to a nearby hotpot restaurant for lunch. Following that, the girls claim they want something sweet after all the salt and MSG in their lunch, so they insist on getting dessert at the café next door. Rin _hates_ sweets (he will never understand how Nagisa can chow down an Iwatobi-chan cream bread, several slices of cake, and a lollipop without getting sick all over the place) and he thinks the cutesy interior of the café is really gross, but it’s two against one. Grudgingly, he follows them in. He's a manly man, and real manly men’s masculinity is not threatened by things like visiting an awfully pink floral-themed café with his sister and her girlfriend.

At least they serve black coffee here. That is his one salvation amidst all the cavity-inducing scents and decorations and a distinctly lacking male presence other than a handful of waitstaff.

Isuzu places their orders for them—“A black coffee for the hunk over there to match his 2014 emo Tumblr soul, an apple pie for the lovely lady beside me, and a matcha parfait for yours truly”—with her Tamaki/Kashima-esque sparkles and roses.

Once the waiter leaves, Rin turns to her, frowning. “Should you be eating something so high in sugar? Aren't you a competitive swimmer?”

“Onii-chan, don't tell her what to do,” Gou says sharply.

“I'm just saying—”

“Nii-chan says there's nothing wrong with having a cheat day every now and then,” Isuzu cuts in airily. “I've been saving mine for a couple of months now, ‘cause I wanted to use it when I finally got to meet you, so it’s like killing two birds with one stone.”

“I forgot to tell you he doesn't like sweets,” Gou says, sounding sheepish.

“Oh well, more for us!”

The two girls giggle like this is an inside joke they frequently share before digging into their desserts. Rin initially had his reservations about Isuzu—and he still kind of does, because he has nothing but high standards for the person who's dating his sister—but… Gou looks really happy. Like, _really_ happy. Her face lit up the instant they spotted Isuzu outside the mall, and it hasn't gotten any dimmer over the past few hours. If anything, it’s gotten even _brighter._ And sure, he knows she has an extremely rigorous skincare routine—comparable to his own workout routine—but this is the kind of glow that no number of facial exfoliators, moisturisers or masks can give you. It’s one that has to come from the deepest depths of your soul.

Before Rin starts feeling too much like a third-wheel on his sister’s date, Isuzu turns to him and points her spoon at him. 

“I appreciate the concern, though,” she says. “You must be quite a serious swimmer, aren't you? Gou-chan’s always talking about how hard her Onii-chan works at swimming.”

Reflexively, he perks up at the mention of swimming. “Of course. I have to be, since I'm competing on the international level.”

As if mirroring him, Isuzu leans forward eagerly in her seat. “You competed in the All-Japan Invitational, didn't you?”

“Yeah. Did Gou tell you about it?”

“She did, but I was also following the news myself since Nii-chan was participating too. It’s so exciting, isn't it? I want to compete in it too! I'm gonna join Hidaka U.’s team and _dominate_ the competition. Then I’ll go global and dominate the competition there too!”

Rin sits up straighter; he likes the sound of that very much. “You sure sound confident.”

“Well, I still can't compare to university swimmers yet, obviously,” she demurs, flushing slightly. “You're friends with Nanase-san, right?”

Rin blinks. What's Haru got to do with this? “Nanase Haruka? Yeah, we’ve been tight since we were kids. What about it?”

“I challenged him a while back. The first time, Nii-chan dragged me away to have a 1000-meter freestyle race with _him_ instead, that stinky jerk. But later I got to race Nanase-san for real. Swimming with him—it’s really something else! He just has this, like, _aura_ that gets your blood pumping. Even though I lost, I still had that adrenaline high like I had won, y’know? Isn't that crazy?”

A smile tugs at Rin’s lips. “Yeah, I know that feeling. I know it like the back of my hand.”

“You and Nanase-san are rivals, right?” Isuzu demands, now getting all in his face. “Between the two of you, who's better?”

“Uh, well,” he hedges, rubbing the back of his neck, “you win some and you lose some, y’know? We've raced so much we've lost track. Well, _I've_ lost track. I don't think he was ever counting to begin with.”

There's a gleam in her eyes that he finds that he likes, strangely enough. “So would you say that you and Nanase-san are pretty much on the same level?”

“I guess so, yeah. No matter who wins, it’s usually a close shave.” 

“Perfect! Then, Rin-san, to prepare myself for the All-Japan Invitational next year—” Isuzu rises to her feet and points dramatically at him again with her parfait-covered spoon. “—I challenge you!”

A smirk curls on Rin’s face. Now _this_ is what he's talking about when it comes to a potential partner for his sister: someone who's bold, fiery and into swimming. That, and treating her with love and respect, obviously.

He downs the rest of his coffee before responding, “It’s been a while since my last race. I accept.”

Coinciding perfectly with the dramatic declaration of battle, Gou finishes the last of her pie. Rin pays for everything, insisting despite the girls’ protests, and then they head to Iwatobi Swim Club. The place is open but there's no one using the pool, so Rin and Isuzu quickly get changed while Gou switches on the lights in the main pool.

Isuzu challenges him multiple times. He wins every one, though the margin varies each round. After the seventh round, Gou has to force them to take a break before they burn out.

“I'm still no match for the All-Japan Invitational, huh?” Isuzu pants as she gulps down her water.

“I'm not gonna lie, you're good. Better than I was expecting, and I had high expectations.” Rin grins and ruffles her hair. The way she immediately lowers her head, like it’s an instinct, reminds him of Momo when he ruffles _his_ hair. “You’ve got loads of potential. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing you at the All-Japan Invitational next year.”

Isuzu’s eyes light up, rather much like a puppy that just got praised. Her head whips around to face Gou. “Gou-chan!”

Gou, who's reviewing the photographs she took of them while they were racing, glances up. “Yes, babe?”

 _Did she just say ‘BABE’?_ Rin feels like his brain is combusting.

Isuzu seizes Gou’s hands, almost causing her to drop her camera. “Can you send me Rin-san’s training regimen?”

“Sure, but didn't you ask Haruka-senpai for his too?” Gou asks, sounding confused.

“That guy’s absolutely ridiculous,” Isuzu huffs. “He technically _does_ have a regimen that his coach made, but he apparently needs a _lot_ of encouragement from Tachibana-san to even follow it! And when I asked him for advice on how to get faster, all he told me was, _‘Follow where the water leads you’_. Like, what the hell is that supposed to mean?!”

“Haru really is a one-of-a-kind guy,” Rin chuckles. “Don't bother asking him for advice on anything—it only makes sense to him and Makoto. Tell you what, Isuzu.”

“Yeah?”

“I'm hitting the gym next weekend. You can come with if you want—I’ll give you pointers and stuff.”

Instantly, she perks up. “Throw in a race afterwards and I'm in.”

“Wouldn't have it any other way.”

He lifts his fist, and she bumps it with the usual Mikoshiba energy—except now, he doesn't find it as annoying as he once did. _Now,_ he finds there's something endearing about all her energy and charm. He can see why Gou likes her so much.

It’s getting late, especially for Isuzu who has a long train ride back home, so they get changed before walking her to the station.

“Bye-bye, Gou-chan!” Isuzu says, waving to them. “See you next week, Rin-san!”

Gou smiles and waves while Rin nods. Once Isuzu disappears down the stairs, Rin and Gou turn around to head to their platform.

“So,” Gou says, linking her hands behind her back. “What do you think, Onii-chan?”

“Not gonna lie, I was worried when you told me who she was,” Rin replies. “But now, she's probably my favourite Mikoshiba. Well, despite the cleavage photo she gave me.”

She giggles. “I'm glad. You're both important to me, so I wanted you two to get along too.”

“Most importantly, are you happy with her?”

“Definitely,” Gou says, not missing a beat. “I suppose I would be _fine_ on my own, but being with her—it makes everything _better._ Her passion and drive are really inspiring—makes me want to strive to be better too. And I'm happier than I probably would've been on my own, ‘cause she makes the world brighter.”

It still is hard for Rin to wrap his mind around the fact that his little sister is dating someone and seems genuinely in love with that person. What happened to that little girl he had to scare bullies away for? Or the little girl who would sneak into his bed at night because she missed Dad? Somehow, it still feels like it was just yesterday that they were two kids trying to figure out what kind of place the world would be without their father.

Without thinking, his hand falls gently on top of her head. “Good. That's what matters. I’m happy for you.”

She beams up at him. “Thanks, Onii-chan. Though I do have one request.”

“Hmm?”

“I'm glad you and Izu-chan get along, but please don't steal my girlfriend, okay? You can race and work out with her all you want, but she's still _mine._ ”

Rin shudders at the idea. “Don't worry, I would wear that stupid maid outfit again before even _thinking_ of dating a Mikoshiba.”

* * *

**#5:**

During his break in Japan, Rin goes out more often than he stays at home. Usually it’s to visit and mentor the current Samezuka team as an alumnus. Occasionally, he drops by Tokyo to see how Haru and Makoto and their buddies are doing, challenge them to a friendly race or two, and crash at one of their apartments.

Today, though, he has made no such plans. Even he needs a breather from constantly going out and socialising.

On the other hand, his mother has plans for the whole day, so he and Gou volunteer to help fold the laundry. Or, more specifically, Gou volunteers the both of them and Rin goes along with it since he has nothing better to do.

They have a system for doing laundry developed during their childhood. First, Rin would blast some music to make the monotonous task less boring. When they were kids, he’d switch on the radio and tune in to the pop music station. Now, he plays music from a specific Spotify playlist for family-friendly situations (he has playlists for everything; one master-playlist with all his music, one to be blasted on speakers at social gatherings, one for studying, one for working out, and one for crying if necessary). 

Second, they would divide the underwear. Rin would fold his own while Gou would handle the rest—for good reason, since he can't look at a woman’s underwear without feeling like he ought to gouge his eyes out, out of a sense of strict moral duty. 

Thirdly, they would leave the rest of the laundry in a messy pile between them. After folding each item, they would put it in one of the three respective stacks a safe distance away from Steve, in case he decides to make them his new bed and leave his fur all over the freshly washed clothes. It’s an efficient system Rin has designed, one that he's immensely proud of.

They clear the pile between them within an hour. However, seeing as it’s presently the peak of summer, it truly is too hot to even think of moving. The fan blasting the blistering air at their faces only serves to make Rin’s eyelids heavier. As if feeling the same, Gou lies back on the relatively cooler floor and brushes her bangs away from her sweaty forehead.

“Oi.” Rin grabs a towel, folds it, and slips it under her head. “There. That's more comfortable, isn't it?”

She smiles sleepily at him before covering a yawn. “Thanks, Onii-chan.”

He follows suit, lying back and folding his hands under his head. Huh, Gou had the right idea; it really is cooler like this. It's a temporary respite before thermal equilibrium eventually occurs and the cool floor stops being so cool, but a much-needed respite nonetheless.

Steve, the nosy brat, pads over to them. He slinks between them—but when Rin reaches out to pet him, he hisses and settles down in Gou’s arms instead. She giggles and strokes Steven’s chin, while he just watches with no small amount of envy and forlornness. One day, Steven will accept his love, but sadly today is not that day.

“This is kinda nostalgic, isn't it?” Gou murmurs, her voice faint with sleepiness. “We used to do this when we were kids, especially during the summer when we were on vacation and Mom was busy working.”

Rin smiles as memories of his childhood flit through his mind—of him and Gou trying to wash the dishes and inadvertently breaking a few; of them bickering over whose turn it was to wash the bathroom; of them inviting Sousuke over and having soda in the backyard when it was just far too hot to do anything but laze around. 

“We were such good kids, weren't we?” he chuckles.

“It was your idea, remember? You were the one who pointed out that Mom was working really hard to provide for us, so we should try and lighten her load as much as we could. Although,” she adds with a giggle, “the first time we tried using the washing machine, we ended up flooding the whole place instead.”

He grimaces at _that_ particular memory. After seeing what had become of their hard work, Gou panicked and burst into tears. He, too, was terrified of the scolding that was sure to come their way once their mother found out what they had done. But since he refused to show any weakness (he felt like he couldn't, now that his father wasn't around and he had to be the man of the house), he just patted her head and hurried to find as many towels as possible to clean up the mess they'd made. Fortunately, their mother wasn't mad and in fact found their efforts endearing. After reassuring them that yes, she was not angry, she taught them how to operate the washing machine without needing to build their own Noah’s Ark to survive the consequences. 

“The trauma was quite something,” he mutters. “Even after Mom taught us how to use it, we still preferred to leave the washing to her and focus on folding the clothes that were already clean instead.”

“Mom even made a game out of this, didn't she?” Gou says. “I remember—for every basket of laundry we cleared, she’d give us a sticker. Then at the end of the week, we could cash in the stickers for a reward.”

“The good old token economy system,” he quips, remembering something he'd learned from his behavioural psych elective classes in university.

“That's where you got that shark plushie from, right? What was his name? Same-chan? Do you still have him?”

Rin averts his eyes, embarrassed. “He's somewhere, probably. You can go look for him if you want. If you do, he's yours.”

“You're just going to abandon poor Same-chan like that?” she demands, like it’s some kind of heinous act.

“I'm giving him up for adoption. I'm too old for plushies.”

“Nonsense. You're _never_ too old for plushies.”

He rolls his eyes. “Agree to disagree.”

For several moments, the room is comfortably quiet save for the pop music pumping from Rin’s phone and the leaves rustling in the weak summer breeze outside. So many things have changed—instead of playing music from a radio, they're using Rin’s smartphone. And Rin no longer has the same attachment to plushies that his younger self did. 

But at the same time, there are some things that will remain constant no matter what, like the home he belongs to no matter where in the world he travels to. His ‘tree’, as his father would call it.

As if following the same train of thought, Gou pipes up, “It’s funny that something as simple and mundane as laundry can bring back so many memories, isn't it? Almost everything is different now. The obvious part is that we’re older and bigger now, but the other things too—like the fact that you're swimming internationally just as you've always wanted to, and I have a girlfriend now.” 

When Rin glances at her, she has a wistful look on her face as she cuddles Steven. 

“If only I could visit my eleven-year-old self and tell her: that stupid boy she had a crush on who rejected her in front of the whole class?” She makes a half-scoff half-snort sound. “She would barely remember him in seven years’ time ‘cause by then, she would’ve found a girlfriend who lights up the whole world with her smile and has some of the best muscles in the world. Well, second-best—she still has a ways to catch up to Onii-chan.”

Rin has been aware of that fact for several months now, but there's still this cognitive dissonance he feels whenever he looks at his little sister and realises she's in a serious, committed romantic relationship. Hell, he's having a hard time processing that she is already eighteen and would be considered an adult in most places around the world. Well, not here in Japan yet, but soon enough she will be.

“Hmm? What's wrong, Onii-chan?” she asks, raising her eyebrows. “You look kinda constipated.”

“I'm not constipated. It’s, uh, weird. I guess.”

“What, that I have a girlfriend? I thought you didn't have a problem with that.”

“No, it’s not that.” He cringes internally. He knows he doesn't exactly have the best track record when it comes to expressing his feelings—especially when it comes to touchy-feely kind of things—but dammit he's going to try. “It’s the fact that you're dating anyone at all. Don't get me wrong, Isuzu’s cool. I probably would've had a stroke if you told me you were dating any of the _other_ Mikoshibas. It’s… it’s _weird,_ though, ‘cause in my head—” Even the floor isn't enough to cool his heated face down. “—I still, like, see this little girl sometimes. The one that fell down at the playground, and was scared of going into the pool, and had nightmares after watching _Princess Mononoke._ ”

And that, he supposes, might be because he wasn't there when she grew up during the three years he was abroad. When he had left, she’d been a kid. During the few occasions he visited, such as for New Year’s, she still was a little runt. 

But when he returned to study locally, she suddenly became—well, _older,_ like it was some magical transformation that had happened overnight. He'd never thought about it until now, but he realises she must have fought for herself, by herself, while he wasn't around. Teenaged boys, being the hormonal little shits they are, probably gave her a hard time when they noticed she was maturing—she must’ve had to defend herself on her own while Rin was busy being depressed and cold and an all-around shitty older brother in Australia. She must’ve gone through _so much_ to become who she is today, and he never realised just how much he'd missed out on.

“You know,” she says, her tone odd, “that sounds like the kind of thing a dad would say.”

“Does it?” Rin snorts, in an attempt to cover up the pang that shoots through him at the mention of ‘dad’ and ‘would’.

“Yeah. Look, Onii-chan, I've been thinking about this for a while… I don't know if this really is the case, but I feel like you've been trying to fulfill two roles in my life.”

He frowns. “What do you mean?”

“Okay, let me put it like this: after we lost Dad, it’s like you're trying to be both my older brother and my father at the same time,” Gou explains. “I mean, we’re only a year apart—yet, from the way you treat me sometimes, it’s like you're way older than me. It feels… I don't know. Not exactly _patronising,_ because that's too harsh, but like… distant, in a way.”

A pang of worry hits him. Is that how she really feels? He thought it was natural for siblings to be protective of each other. But then again, he supposes nearly having a stroke each time he (mistakenly) assumed she was dating someone, stalking her on what he presumed was a date (first with her friend Hana-chan and then with Momo), and screaming murder when she told him she was actually dating someone—all that probably went beyond the bounds of ‘natural’ sibling protectiveness. Maybe… maybe he _has_ been too overbearing about who she dated and what she did.

“Is… is that a bad thing?” he asks quietly, afraid.

She absentmindedly runs her hand over Steve’s fur. “I wouldn't say it’s outright _bad,_ but I wouldn't necessarily say it’s _good,_ either. I mean, I appreciate the care and the protectiveness—even if you don't like to admit it—but what I'm trying to say is that you don't have to. Fulfill Dad’s role, I mean. I think Onii-chan just being Onii-chan is enough. I'm old enough to look out for myself now, so you don't have to be so worried about me all the time.

Is it just him, or is the room even warmer than before? Fuck summer, fuck touchy-feely conversations he's terrible at handling.

Keeping his eyes fixed on the sleepily whirring fan above them, Rin reaches over and musses her hair. “Of course you can take care of yourself now—doesn’t mean I won't worry from time to time anyway,” he says gruffly.

That answer probably satisfies her, because she gives him one last sleepy smile before nodding off. Rin, too, can feel his eyelids grow heavier and heavier as the air around grows even hotter and more humid. He can barely move or think anymore, so he succumbs to summer’s hold and surrenders to his drowsiness.

When he wakes up, it’s to the smell of dinner: Western-style steak and mashed potatoes, his favourite when he was staying with his Australian home-stay family. His mother must have contacted Russell and Lori a while back to ask about what he liked to eat there, because she's been experimenting with various Australian recipes lately.

Also, he thinks something is up. She has an odd smile on her face as she bustles around the kitchen. When he asks her about it, she just hums and says she’ll tell him later. Rin, still fighting off the vestiges of his nap, simply nods and heads to the toilet to splash some water on his face.

Now considerably more awake, he joins his mother and sister at the dinner table—and that is when he finds out the reason for the odd smile on his mother’s face.

“Is that what my ponytail looks like from that angle?” Gou muses, eyeing the photo on their mother’s phone.

Rin’s eyebrows start twitching on their own accord. “So your first reaction to seeing your kids passed out on the floor is to take a picture?”

Their mother giggles. “I couldn't help it—you two looked so cute, like two little apples! It reminded me of when you two were younger. I'd return home from work and find you two asleep on the floor amidst all the laundry.” She smiles as she traces a finger lightly over her phone screen, over Rin and Gou’s faces. “Some things really don't change.”

“Of course not,” he mumbles, the words leaving him before he can think.

“Did you say something, Rin?”

He smiles. “No, nothing. Thanks for the meal.”

Despite his earlier embarrassment at being photographed asleep, he keeps the photo instead of immediately deleting it when his mother sends it to their family group chat. He wants to keep the important things in his life close to him, after all.

Plus, as silly and childish as it may sound, the apple doesn't _want_ to fall too far from the tree, no matter which country or continent he has to travel to. Home is where the heart will always want to be.

**Author's Note:**

> if you enjoyed this, please kudos and comment if you'd like to! :D thanks for reading!!
> 
> reach me on [tumblr](https://hqissodelicate.tumblr.com/) if you feel like it :D
> 
> ###### flower meanings:
> 
> 1\. white rose: innocence, purity and remembrance—which symbolises how rin sees gou as someone innocent and pure, so he feels like he has to protecc her
> 
> 2\. white heather: protection from danger, which is pretty obvious from rin's behaviour throughout this fic:D


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